A bridge tender and a couple of retirees are expected to be at the controls of Door County's snow plows this winter to make up for a shortage in staff.

Door County Highway Commissioner John Kolodziej told members of the county board's Highway and Airport Committee Monday that two highway workers — one who had been on the job for two months — have resigned. Three others are out on medical leave, he said.

The Door County Highway Department not only plows the lettered county roads but also State Highways 42 and 57, the majority of local roads and some county parks.

Should the county get hit with a major snow event in the next few months, Kolodziej said a former plow operator who transferred within the highway department to work as the chief bridge tender of the draw spans in Sturgeon Bay would be back plowing the roads.

Two recently retired plow operators have agreed to return to road clearing on a limited basis due to concerns their plow operator wages could penalize their Social Security and other retirement pay.

The highway commissioner also said the remaining three bridge tenders — who would normally be laid off during the winter — would be kept on the payroll working as needed to raise the bridges and allow large ships to pass through.

The process of hiring replacements for the two highway workers who resigned is underway, but that process could take most of the winter.

At Tuesday's meeting of the county board's Administrative Committee, which has oversight of personnel matters, Kolodziej's plan to hire an equipment operator to replace one of the workers who resigned was approved. However, because Kolodziej received the resignation for the second worker Monday morning, the process of approving another replacement is stalled until mid-winter.

State law requires that agendas for government meetings must be posted a minimum of 48 hours before the meeting takes place. Because the second worker's resignation was submitted Monday, the request to hire a replacement — not being on the committee's agenda — now must be delayed until the committee meets in mid-January.